I never liked the movie "It's a Wonderful Life." I don't admit that much because it is such an unquestioned part of the Christmas movie canon. It is the favorite Christmas movie of many of my closest friends and family members. But to me it's extremely depressing. This guys gives up all his hopes and dreams to help a community that is narrow minded and self-centered. Yeah they come through at the end with a measly $5000 bucks but George still has to live in that crappy old house running a business that causes no end of stress. He never gets to go to the oilfields of Venezuela or the savannahs of Africa. His nomadic wunderlust is crushed into a forced domesticity that perpetuates Thoreau's quite desperation. And those jazz clubs of Pottersville seem a lot more happening than the judgemental and co-dependent denizens of Bedford Falls.
I read an article in the New York Times that captures my opinion of this movie perfectly. I finally realize I'm not alone in my apocalyptic vision of It's A Wonderful Life. Read it Here...
